1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tissue engineering of blood vessels. More particularly, the present invention relates to tissue engineering of an artery from a vein through control of vessel wall stress and strain.
2. Background of the Invention
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is currently the most common surgical procedure to re-supply nutrients to a poorly perfused heart region typically through use of an existing patient blood vessel. Among the blood vessels used for CABG, the saphenous vein is the most often used because it can easily be harvested without detrimental effects due to the abundance of redundancy in the drainage system of the superficial veins. However, after implantation, approximately 10-20% of the saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) occlude after one year due to thrombotic occlusion and intimal hyperplasia, and about 50% fail after 10 years. Various attempts have been made to improve the compatibility of SVGs, including the use of anti-platelet agents, calcium channel antagonists, immuno-suppression with cyclosporine, photodynamic therapy employing laser light and gene therapy. Although these procedures do provide some short-term vessel patency, they do not confer long-term prevention of neointimal formation and remain largely experimental.
Thus, a need exists in the art for an alternative to the conventional methods of vein grafting such that the short and long-term prognosis of the procedure results in increased patient success rate and decreased re-occlusion rates. Such alternative should be universally applicable, be easy to use and be easily manufactured to apply to a large market.